Group seeks to take a more active role in shaping city's long-term agenda.

Jacksonville's Non-Group, whose membership roster was often the subject of intrigue, wielded power in relative obscurity for nearly two decades.

Several members said they felt there was a leadership vacuum in the city, which needed to be addressed by a more public group.

After voting to disband the Non-Group, several members joined with other leaders in launching the Jacksonville Civic Council.

Initially composed of about 50 civic leaders, the council will raise $400,000 to hire an executive director, research issues and advocate for change, according to its chairman, Peter Rummell.

"There has been concern for some time that there hasn't been a strategic public-private partnership in Jacksonville," Rummell said. "This group fills that void."

The group will use the collective power of its membership to bring focus to long-term issues facing the city by working with elected officials and other key stakeholders.

The group has commissioned a poll to determine the issues most important to Jacksonville's residents. The results will be announced in a news conference Thursday.

"We are purposefully being public about this," Rummell said. "We don't want there to be any mystery, and we're putting a little pressure on ourselves to be accountable."

Matt Corrigan, political science chairman at the University of North Florida, said the group bears some resemblance to the group that led the city consolidation effort in the 1960s.

"It says we've come to a turning point in the city," Corrigan said. "It's important that these leaders speak up. We're at a critical juncture."

The Jacksonville Civic Council's forerunner was an informal network of some of the city's most powerful corporate leaders. Formed in 1993, the Non-Group focused primarily on educational issues, including supporting for the launch of the Alliance for World Class Education, now known as the Jacksonville Public Education Fund.

"There's a lot of power in good ideas," said Steve Halverson, CEO of the Haskell Co. and a former Non-Group chairman. "This group has the luxury of being independent and speaking truth to power."

Rummell and Halverson said the idea for the new organization evolved over the last two years as the Non-Group debated whether to embrace a more activist role.

A chamber trip to Kansas City, Mo., inspired Jacksonville lawyer Lynn Pappas, then chairwoman of the Non-Group, to pattern the council after the Civic Council of Greater Kansas City. At the Non-Group's December meeting, members voted to disband the organization and create the council.

Rummell, Pappas, Halverson and John Delaney, former Jacksonville mayor and now president of the University of North Florida, led the effort and selected the new group's members.

Membership dues range from $1,000 to $15,000 per member and include mandatory attendance requirements. Membership is by invitation only and all members were required to make a three-year commitment.

"The replacement of the Non-Group with JCC is reflective of the times," Halverson said. "There is a hunger in this city for more engaged civic leadership."

Leaders say the group will be non-partisan, although it is understood that individuals may be involved in various political campaigns.

Corrigan said the group will face questions of how representative it is of the city and will have to continue to reach out to have an impact. Its composition is more diverse than its predecessor with the initial roster listing five women and at least six African-Americans.

"We wanted to be inclusive and we wanted the right people at the table," Rummell said. "We've tried to represent the community while also including business leadership who can get things done."

Both Rummell and Halverson expect the group to evolve over time.

The group will register as a 501(c)(6) group, which will allow it to publicly advocate and lobby for issues it perceives as important to the city's future.

Corrigan says that's where the group could really have an impact.

"Do you want to be the city councilman who goes against them?" Corrigan said.

In addition to the four former Non-Group members who launched the council, Civic Council members who were previously known to be members of the Non-Group at one time are Ed Burr, Carl Cannon, Jack Diamond, Ceree Harden, Herb Peyton, Michael Ward and Wayne Weaver.

Susie Wiles, former aide to Mayor John Peyton and current partner at IF Marketing & Advertising, who assisted with the new group's formation, will serve as the group's interim executive director while a nationwide search is conducted for a permanent one.